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After January wildfires destroyed more than 18,000 buildings in Los Angeles, a growing movement of residents who lost their homes want to rebuild all-electric, recognizing that burning gas in household appliances contributes to the climate-driven increase in the destructiveness of wildfires. An attribution study found that climate change made the January fires 35 percent more likely.
But the country’s largest gas utility, SoCalGas, is using funds from its customers to incentivize wildfire survivors to rebuild with fossil gas instead of going electric.
The monopoly gas provider in Southern California is offering thousands of dollars worth of rebates to wildfire survivors who rebuild with gas appliances. The rebates are paid for by California utility ratepayers through a California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) energy efficiency program.
SoCalGas customers who are rebuilding from the wildfires qualify for rebates under the Residential Energy Efficiency Fire Rebuild program. Some of the rebates offered, and subsidized by ratepayers, include $600 for a gas patio heater, $750 for a gas fireplace insert, and $2,250 for a gas tankless water heater.
To learn more, read the full story by Hilary Beaumont via the link in our bio or at LAPublicPress.org.
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News (@insideclimatenews), a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment.
